There’s plenty to be gained, but even more to be lost as County football teams continue with league action on Friday.

Yes, the winner of the Menlo-Atherton vs. Terra Nova game will establish itself as the clear-cut leader as the only undefeated team left in the

But for a host of other teams, it’s not too big a stretch to say this week will separate the pretenders from the contenders. Even though it’s early on in league play, Friday stands as the proving ground for programs that entered the year with high expectations, only to stumble out of the gate.

Once the Bay was downgraded to a ‘B’ division in the offseason, it became very unlikely that the division would be able to garner any CCS playoff bids beyond its three automatic entries. A Bay team would be extremely hard-pressed to amass the needed power points to earn an at-large bid.

The result? A top-three divisional finish has become the only ticket to CCS for Bay programs. And two perennial playoff teams will find that road very difficult to climb, unless they can find a way to win on Friday.

Burlingame (1-3, 1-1 PAL Bay) has to be looking at its Carlmont contest as a must-win if the Panthers have any hope of extending their streak of CCS appearances to four. After suffering a 24-0 loss to Menlo

Woodside (1-3, 0-1), another Bay team with a three-year playoff run, will also be squarely behind the eight ball if it falls to 0-2. And in order to avoid that fate, the Wildcats must not only win at Aragon, but beat a Dons’ team sure to be fired up after losing to M-A last week.

Woodside’s situation seems less precarious than Burlingame’s, if only because the ‘Cats will have faced Terra Nova and Aragon to start the Bay season, with several more winnable games on deck, while the Panthers still have the division’s best yet to come.

Meanwhile, Menlo School (3-1, 1-1) visits South San Francisco (1-3, 1-1) in a battle of teams hoping to thrust themselves into playoff contention. The loser likely faces insurmountable odds, with M-A and Aragon matchups remaining for both, and 

So while M-A and Terra Nova meet for first place, a lot more desperation will be involved in the Bay’s other three games. Even

Unusually high stakes for this early in the season aren’t unique to Bay teams.

Take Serra. The Padres entered the year with hopes of winning their first outright West Catholic Athletic League title since 1969. And with loads of returning talent, Serra seemed a good bet to match its 2006 co-championship.

But after falling 13-10 at St. Francis in its opener, the Padres (3-2, 0-1 WCAL) now face Valley Christian, a CCS champion in four of the last five years. In the rough and tumble WCAL, coaches like to say, “Anyone can beat anyone, at any given time.” Well, Serra needs to beat the Warriors to position itself to stay in the hunt for another title run.

And in the PAL Ocean, while a horrendous non-league performance (every team started 0-2) made early analysis a challenge, the divisional race is starting to take shape. With El Camino and Mills off to undefeated Ocean starts, albeit at a combined 3-0, other title hopefuls need to win Friday to keep pace.

Sequoia, in particular, is looking for a rebound victory against El Camino (2-2, 2-0 PAL Ocean) after seeing a failed two-point conversion in the last minute result in loss to Capuchino. After seeing their six-game Ocean win streak end, the Cherokees (1-3, 1-1) can either muddle the divisional picture by topping El Camino or see their championship hopes take a big hit with a loss.